Morrisons supermarket recently contacted me and asked me to join their British beef challenge.    A box of seasonal vegetables duly arrived and I set off to Morrisons for my beef.

I have to confess that I am not generally a Morrisons shopper, purely because there is not one within walking distance of my flat.   My mother uses Morrisons on the occasions that she is near one, and is always very impressed with the shop, customer service and products.

A while back Morrisons launched their “market street” concept, stores within the store where shoppers could buy their bread from a baker, fish from a fishmonger and meat from a butcher.   I was delighted to discover that all the fresh lamb, pork and beef sold in the 376 Morrisons stores nationwide is British sourced, so Morrisons shoppers do not have to scrutinise the label to choose British meat and support British farmers.    In the Fuss Free kitchen we do not eat that much meat, but when we do we want it to be of great quality and taste and the meat I bought delivered on both.

I was really impressed with my Morrisons experience, although on a Saturday afternoon the store was crowded, busy staff were impeccably polite, helpful and knowledgable.    Usually I find shopping in a different supermarket a fairly stressful experience as everything takes longer as I never know where anything is, helpful staff made it less of a chore.

The butcher was fantastic, helpful and knowledgable.   He went to get a new piece of beef for me so I could get the size of fillet I wanted, and then when I told him I would get another piece for the freezer he offered to wrap it ready for freezing (the Morrisons meat is wrapped in thick paper, rather than plastic).

All in all a great experience.  Prices are keen, I especially noticed how competitive the fruit and vegetables were, and their quality was excellent.   The piece of beef fillet I bought was about £12 and was more than enough for both of us.

I wanted to create a traditional British dish with my beef, but also give it a Fuss Free kitchen twist, playing with the flavours and making it a bit lighter.   I hit upon a modern Beef Wellington, but using filo pastry to make it lighter and added some Asian flavours of sesame, soy and cumin to the traditional mushroom duxelles.   By swapping filo for the traditional shortcrust you are removing calorific butter and gaining a heap of crunch and texture.

I served this with a maple and cumin sweet potato and carrot mash and sautéed pak choi.   Delicious, and definitely something to be repeated, the beef was delicious, and meltingly tender.

Recipe: Asian Inspired Filo Beef Wellington

Serves 2

300g / 12oz fillet of beef

For the mushroom duxelles

200g / 8oz mixed mushrooms – I used a mix of shiitake, chestnut and standard
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp ground cumin
Pinch ground chilli (optional)
1/2 star anise
2 tbs dark soy sauce

4 sheets filo pastry*

Preheat the oven to 220C / 425F/ GM7.  Put the fillet into an oiled roasting dish and season with salt and pepper.   Cook for 12 mins (rare) or 15 (medium) – timings will vary depending on the size and shape of your fillet.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Meanwhile finely chop the mushrooms and garlic (or pulse in the food processor).  Sauté in the sesame oil in a frying pan with the spices.   When the mushroom is reduced add the soy sauce and cook again for a few minutes.   Season to taste and allow to cool.

The trick when working with filo pastry is to be swift, and not leave it uncovered as once it starts to dry out it becomes stiff and brittle.    Place one sheet on a baking tray and spread out a layer of the mushrooms (discard the star anise) about the same shape and size of the beef.    Place the beef on top of the mushrooms and wrap the filo around the meat.     Place your filo parcel on to another sheet and repeat.    Drape the last sheet of filo over your filo parcel and wrap so all the edges are underneath and you have a neat filo bundle.

Gently transfer to a baking tray and bake at 200C / 400 / GM6 for about 20 mins (rare) or 25 (medium).  If the pastry starts to go too brown cover with a pice of foil towards the end of cooking.

When done slice and serve immediately, with the mash and pak choi sautéed in a little soy sauce.

* wrap leftovers well in cling film to freeze.

Recipe: Maple and Cumin Sweet Potato and Carrot Mash

Serves 2

1 large sweet potato
1 large carrot
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs maple syrup
Salt & pepper to taste

Peel and chop the sweet potato and carrot into 1″ chunks.  Place in a pan of water and bring to the boil, simmer for about 25 mins until soft.

Drain, add the cumin and maple syrup and mash until smooth.

I think that this would also be delicious with pumpkin or butternut squash either in place or in addition to either vegetable.

Thank you to Morrisons for asking me to take part in the challenge and providing the ingredients.

With the advent of summer come the salad bags from the fruit and vegetable co-op.    As much as I love a traditional mayonnaise potato salad, they can get a little boring and they need a makeover to keep my interest.   One variation was to add cucumber, mint and yogurt but delicious as it is, it is still fairly similar to the mayonnaise based salad.

Several months ago I held a miso tasting, where a gaggle of food bloggers gathered in my flat and we tasted our way though Clearspring’s miso range, it was a fantastic and hilarious evening, as a result I am long on miso, with enough to keep me going for at least the next 12 months. Whisking up some miso with other Japanese ingredients made a deliciously different dressing for my potatoes,  salty, tangy and packing a massive umami punch, a dish that certainly will be repeated the next time the sun comes out.

Recipe: Miso Potato Salad

This is more of an idea than a recipe, adapt according to what vegetables you have in the fridge.

Ingredients

Salad Potatoes – cooked and sliced
Handful French Beans – optional

For the Dressing

Equal quantities of

Brown miso (I used barley)
Tamari or soy sauce
Lemon Juice
Sesame Oil
Mirim
Tahini – optional to thicken

Method

Whisk the dressing ingredients together. I know tahini is not Japanese, but it thickens the dressing nicely.

Steam the beans for 2 minutes and then plunge into cold water

Pour the dressing over the potatoes and beans and mix well

I topped with some furikake (a mix of sesame seeds and ground seaweed – it can contain fish – so read the label if you are vegetarian)

Keeps in the fridge for a few days and is delicious for a packed lunch.

Click here for a printable version

This noodle filled sushi is a delicious twist on the more traditional rice based sushi, and just as scrumptious, although not at all easy to roll.

I cannot claim any credit for these, the original idea was from Clearspring, and the recipe can be found here.   I substituted salty tangy umeboshi paste for the pungent sinus clearing wasabi; as well as the soba, my rolls contained sesame and tamari shiitake mushrooms.    I have also made these with avocado filling.

Dipped in tamari they were the perfect pre-tasting nibble for a group of food bloggers that gathered at my flat last week, to sample our way through the entirety of Clearspring’s Miso range.

Despite these being more of an idea than a recipe I am sending them to this week’s Presto Pasta Night #205, hosted by Debbie Does Dinner.   Last week’s host, Sarah, enjoyed these with us and I am sorry I did not manage to get them to her round up in time.   A trip to a sugar craft exhibition (which will be blogged soon) intervened.

I’ll also get the miso tasting notes up soon, and some recipes using them!

Thanks to Clearspring to sending me all the ingredients to make these.

I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster this week,  and I have comforted myself with too much food, booze and coffee.     I have eaten so much that I have been almost unable to lie on my front, my usual sleeping position,  due my acquisition of a food stuffed, pot belly.  Booze and caffeine consumption have both further contributed to fitful sleep.  It is only Thursday and tomorrow I have a ticket for the Whisky Show.   I guess that there is no rest for a food blogger’s digestive system, so tonight I have tried to give my gut  a night off with a large bowl of greens.

Simply stir fried a heap of shredded greens with garlic, tamari and crunchy peanut butter.   Quick, simple, delicious and satisfying my craving for something healthy.   I used a mix of cabbage, pak choi, brussel sprouts & broccoli.   Most vegetables would work well, aim for a variety of textures and flavours.  cauliflower, kale, spinach, mange tout, green beans and bean sprouts would all be delicious.

To make a more substantial dish add a handful of noodles.

This is another contribution to my series of easy, economical and healthy recipes of what to do with the contents of the co-op “boxes” for the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups project run by Sustain – also part of the Making Local Food Work programme funded by the Big Lottery.

Stir Fried Greens with Satay & Tamari Sauce (serves 2)

Time taken: 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
Glug sunflower oil
Drizzle of sesame oil
About 6 handfuls of finely shredded green vegetables
1 tbs Tamari or soy sauce
1 espresso cup water
1 heaped tbs peanut butter

Method

Put the greens into a sieve and pour a kettle of boiling water over them.

Glug the oil into a large frying pan or wok and heat, add the garlic and stir until aromatic.   Add the greens and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Chuck over the water and the tamari and allow to steam for a while.  Stir through the peanut butter.

Serve with a sprinkling of chilli flake if desired.

Pasta with Silken Tofu Sauce

Similarly to marmite, when it comes to tofu people generally fall into 2 camps.   Those that love it and those that do not.    I am firmly in the first group and am constantly on a mission to convert the tofu haters.   I fully understand why people might think that they do not love tofu; badly cooked tofu is an aberration to any right thinking taste-buds.   As I have said before, there is a simple mantra for deliciousness when dealing with tofu; “press and marinade”.

There are two types of tofu; what I think of as regular tofu which is basically soy cheese, where the milk is curdled, the curds strained from the whey and then pressed.  Silken tofu is totally different, softer with the soy milk curdled into a custard like consistency with very little separation.    Regular tofu is more usually served in solid pieces whereas silken tofu is blended, whizzed and mixed into a creamy sauce and generally used in puddings, cakes and dips.

Clearspring have just launched an organic silken tofu* (the only organic ambient storage long life tofu in the world, fantastic if your fridge is always as full as mine) and gave me some samples to experiment with.  The tofu is made and presented in Tetra pack style boxes,and tastes just as fresh as my homemade tofu does.   It is as delicious straight from the box, with a drizzle of oil or tamari, as it is made into all manner of dishes.

I have briefly written about Clearspring before; along with Steenbergs they are one of my favourite food producers.   Clearspring are a 100% vegan company, committed to producing ethical foods and supporting local communities.  They are organic as far as they can be (because of their production methods sea vegetables cannot be certified as organic), and they are serious about quality, their statement that they make premium quality products is spot on.  I have a serious and growing addiction to the brand.

Here in the UK is it freezing cold and snowing, comfort food is called for.  I was craving creamy pasta; but mindful of the spate of Christmas parties that have already started and the resultant calorie load, I wanted something a little lighter.  So  I whizzed up a mock cream sauce using the silken tofu and some other Clearspring goodies.     Miso and tamari are rich in umami; the 5th human taste, which almost defies description.   Umami has long been recognised in Japan where the word means deliciousness.

Silken Tofu Miso Dressing

This multi purpose sauce is excellent with crudities, thinned as a salad dressing, and warmed over pasta it makes a fantastic creamy sauce, fantastic as it is or as a base for other flavours.  It is very creamy;  I think most people would think it contained dairy, unless told otherwise.

Silken Tofu Miso Sauce (Serves 3 as a pasta sauce)

1 pack silken tofu (300g)
50g raw cashew nuts
1 tbs tamari
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sweet miso (I used sweet white)
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
Sprinkling of chilli flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste

Whizz all the ingredients thoroughly, either in the food processor or with a stick blender.

I am sending this to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for this week’s Presto Pasta Night.

*Clearspring Organic Silken Tofu

RSP; £1.85 for 300g (Prices accurate as of October 2010)

Price comparison with fresh tofu

Cauldron Organic Tofu 250g RSP £1.67

Taifun Organic Tofu 225g RSP £1.89

Please see Clearspring for more information.   The tofu is avaiable nationwide from the 1st January 2011 and will be in selected health food shops in London the week before Christmas.

Thank you to Clearspring for the free samples of the tofu.

Sometimes the most simple dishes can be the most delicious.   This simple pasta contains only 4 ingredients which come together to make a delicious whole.    It is also fantastic cold, but I think that I would use broccoli in place of the pak choy. ( Whilst writing this up I discovered that pak choy and bok choi are different names for the same thing it is also know as Peking cabbage).

I have been putting soy sauce with my pasta for years; as a child I remember that my mother would make risotto with long grain rice*, which she would serve with  grated cheddar cheese and soy sauce.      Even now if I make an underwhelming risotto my first instinct is to reach for the soy sauce or tamari.

The spelt pasta, soy sauce and olive oil used were all review samples from Clearsping  given to me at the Allergy and Gluten Free show.    I love the semi whole spelt pasta, it has a subtle nutty flavour and because it is made using traditional bronze moulds has a rough texture that the sauce clings to.  I tried some cold at the show and it would be great in salads and for packed lunches.   The tamari is wheat free and double strength and intensely delicious.     The extra virgin olive oil was also delicious, fruity and peppery without being too strong.   All Clearspring  products are vegan and  GMO free and the majority are fully organic.   The company has a commitment to ethical trade and supports sustainable farming practices that help local communities.

I am sending this to  for this Friday’s Presto Pasta Night hosted by The Sweet Kitchen unbelievably this week it is PPN number 168!

* Risotto rice was not to be found easily or cheaply in the UK in the 1970s.  I also remember that one of my Uncles and Aunts used to go to Paxos every year bringing back cans of olive oil which were given as Christmas presents, the contents of which we carefully rationed to last the entire year.   I can still picture the golden can printed in green, black and white with its precious contents within.   Similarly to the risotto rice, olive oil was not readily available and most likely to be found in a pharmacy.

Asian Pasta with Pak Choy (serves 2)

Pasta for 2 – I use about 3oz / 75 g each
Good glug olive oil
Good glug soy sauce or tamari
1 head pak choy

Start cooking the pasta.   Whilst it is boiling roughly chop the pak choy and place in a sieve.    Pour a kettle of boiling water over it to wilt it.    When pasta is done, drain and return to the pan with the pak choy and olive oil.   Add the soy sauce / tamari to taste.   I sprinkled some chilli flake on mine.

Thanks to Clearspring for the free product samples used in this recipe.